If you entered the workplace at a certain time in the late 20th century, you might fondly remember training videos you watched on your first day or week on the job. A manager likely sat you in a windowless room, popped a videocassette into a VCR, and then checked back on you a couple hours later. Though you were expected to learn the content of the tape, you might have also been impressed—here was a company that cared enough about its workers to produce a video for them, and then bought expensive technology to play those videos!
Change is inevitable, and the VCR-based training methods are antiquated, even quaint, compared with today. Today, tablet technology, such as the iPad and the Surface, is driving corporate training materials. The solutions available today are far more innovative than what could have been imagined even 10 years ago, much less last century. Here are some reasons why tablet training is the future of corporate training materials:
Efficiency Is Key
Today’s corporate and economic environment is so tight that any inefficiency isn’t just frustrating, it’s also costly. Simply put, companies can’t afford to waste valuable resources, including those committed to training activities. Tablet training streamlines the entire learning process. Instead of sitting in a back room reading corporate training materials from a binder or on a computer, employees can absorb the content on an iPad at their convenience. And instead of trying to memorize a diagram on how to roll out a new product, workers can watch a video on the floor of the same process, pausing and rewinding as needed to ensure they get it right.
Previous Methods Are Too Expensive
Picture a training room full of binders and other corporate training materials with every process an employee might need to learn. Imagine how much all that content cost to print, including the updates that replace previous versions. Tablet training does away with most of these costs, as well as saves some trees, by taking all those documents digital. And it’s not just printed content that gets expensive—antiquated learning management systems cost much to maintain and lose their ROI over time. Converting eLearning initiatives to the iPad maximizes efficiency and, ultimately, saves money.
A New Generation of Employees
As Millennials begin to flood the workplace, they are going to request, even demand, technology that they are familiar with and that matches their skill sets. Naturally, tablet training will be an instant hit with this younger generation of employees—a generation comfortable reading longer content on a screen and learning more by watching video than being lectured at.
BYOD
Not only are Millennials more adept with today’s technology, but they also prefer using their own technology. In other words, given the choice of using a personal iPad or one provided by the company, younger employees almost always prefer their own. Corporate training materials can extend beyond a company’s own devices, thus strengthening bring-your-own-device (BYOD) initiatives, saving organizations money (after all, they aren’t paying to buy and maintain tablets), and empowering workers.
The Future Is Interactive and Collaborative
The prevailing attitude toward corporate training was that managers lecture, employees learn, and few questions are asked. This approach is gradually losing favor as interactive, collaborative strategies prove more effective and efficient. Tablet training champions this new thinking by offering powerful communication tools. Employees can ask questions and offer feedback, and managers and trainers can provide answers and praise.
What do you think the future of corporate training materials holds?
